Matching Ribbons
by Whisper Angelitos
Summary: AirixJeile ... Maruru is up to a little matchmaking mischief....
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Merupuri, oh, and I've only read the first one, since our library at my school is kinda cheap.

There is no real time that I'd like this to take place, so long as it does.

Maruru fluttered behind Airi as the human girl wandered around the castle, muttering darkly. "Why would Jeile choose such an _ugly_ girl to be his first lady?" she finally said loud enough for Airi to hear.

"I am _not_ ugly!" Airi yelled, whirling to face the smug faerie.

"Prove it," Maruru taunted.

"I don't have to prove anything to you." Airi turned to stomp off down the cold hall.

"Like I said, ugly inside _and_ out! No wonder Jeile is looking for a new first lady. You wouldn't do at all!" The tiny girl smirked, wings fluttering as Airi stopped dead in her tracks, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Maruru…" she warned.

"What? You thought he was really in some stupid meeting all morning? Honestly, don't you use that brain of yours for anything?" She turned as if to fly in the other direction.

"Wait…can you make me look prettier? It's not for Jeile! I just want to prove that I am pretty!"

"Sure." Maruru grinned, rubbing her hands together eagerly as she led the human girl back towards her rooms.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the big, drafty castle…..

"So it's settled, then! When Princess Mikomi and my brother come of age, they shall wed," Jeile concluded, standing to gleefully shake the visiting dignitary's hand. 'That'll keep him away from MY Airi,' he thought smugly, unknowingly imitating his faerie's expression at that same moment.

Once the other man had left, the prince fell back into his seat, sprawling comfortably as he covered a yawn. His eyes almost popped out of his head, however, when the object of his affections slipped through the door in a mere slip of a white silk gown. "A-Airi? Darling? What are you wearing?" Airi looked confused for a moment before her shy smile crumpled and her eyes filled with tears.

"Y-Y-you don't like it?"

"NO! I love it!" he hurried to correct her, rushing to her side and leading her back to his chair. "It's just ….different."

"Really?" she sniffled, rubbing at one of her eyes. Jeile smiled indulgently, slipping back into his seat and pulling her onto his lap, where he proceeded to weave his fingers into her now-curled hair.

"Yes, my mountain lily maiden," he assured her, sliding one hand down her side to lightly rub the heavy material between his thumb and forefinger. "Where did you get this gown?" he suddenly asked.

"Maruru gave it to me…I asked her to help me look pretty," Airi quietly confessed.

"Oh, no."

"What?"

"Well, you see, sweeting, Maruru has this bad habit of …arranging things to fall into my favor."

"Like the girl you're trying to replace me with?"

"What?! What the deuce are you talking about! MARURU!" he bellowed, yanking Airi after him as he stormed off to find the mischievous faerie.

"What'd she do?" the girl questioned, blushing brightly when their fingers twined together as he led her down the hall.

"That dress you're wearing is coated in pixie magic. It makes the wearer spill their most intimate and personal thoughts," he bit out, stopping only long enough to check where they were before continuing on their search.

"Ooh….did you know that--" Airi started, only to stop in mid-sentence when Jeile suddenly stopped, causing her to slam into his back. "Jeile! Why'd we stop?"

"Because, love, we found her," he told her, smirking at her over his shoulder as he pointed to the rather indignant faerie in front of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Airi peered around Jeile from behind him, fingers unconsciously gripping the back of his coat. He grinned, glad for once that she couldn't see his face. "Jeile," she whined, "make her change me back." Airi wasn't sure why she felt so clingy and desperate, unable to stop herself from winding her arms around his waist from behind.

"I will, dear," Jeile placated, patting her hands where they rested on his midriff, "I will. Well? You heard her, Maruru."

The tiny girl pouted, attempting to change his mind by saying, "But don't you like her better this way?"

"Of course not! This is_ not _the Airi I fell in love with, now change her back!" he countered.

"Just untie the stupid ribbons!" Maruru yelled before flying away.

Jeile gently unwound Airi's arms from his waist and turned to face her, now faced with yet another problem: which ribbons? The dress had ribbons on each of the two straps holding it onto Airi, as well as ribbons wound through her hair. There was no doubt in his mind that Maruru had managed to hide ribbons somewhere else as well. "Airi, dear, why don't we go find you something...warmer...to wear?"

"B-but you said you liked this dress!" she protested, gazing up at him hopefully.

"I do, darling, but I don't want you to catch cold," he managed.

"Aww! That is _soo_ sweet!" she squealed, launching herself at him. Jeile, not expecting this, barely managed to catch her as they tumbled backwards onto the floor. Unfortunately for the slightly pervy Jeile, Airi landed on top of him and, thanks to her skirt, soon found her living cushion scrambling away from her with blood trickling from his nose. Her skirt had flown up and covered his face, revealing the ribbons on her undergarments to Jeile. "Aww, hell," he muttered, whipping out his hankie to clean his face.

"Are you all right?" Airi asked quietly, kneeling on the floor with her hands in her lap. Her voice conveyed the worry filling her heart at the thought that she had done something to upset him.

"Yes, sweeting, I'm perfectly fine. Just a little...stunned, really." He offered her his hand, smiling when she timidly accepeted his help in getting to her feet. "Now, what do you say we figure out which ribbons to untie in your room, maybe find you something to eat? Can't have my mountain lily maiden wasting away on me, now can we?" He tired valiantly to distract her, as well as himself, from the fact that Maruru had been very, _very _thorough in her ribbon-planting.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

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Happy now, Airi led a mildly depressed Jeile to her room, giggling as she led him inside. "You know, I never thought I'd be able to get you in here so soon," she told him, clambering onto her mattress and sprawling on her stomach. She peeked up at him through her hair. "Well?"

"Well, what?" he asked, closing the door and turning to face her, looking nervous.

"Well, aren't you gonna come sit with me?" She pouted, sitting on her knees and twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

"I...don't think that's a very good idea, my dear," he told her, approaching the bed cautiously.

"Why not? Don't you love me anymore?" she asked, eyes welling with tears.

"Yes, of course I do!" he hurried to reassure her, climbing onto the high-set bed to sit beside her. Sighing happily, she threw her arms around him, tucking her head under his chin as she smoothed wrinkles in his shirt. He slowly undid the bows in her hair, frowning when they didn't bring about the desired result. He petted her hair, sneakily searching for more hidden bows as she almost _purred_ and curled closer to him. "Jei-ile," she half-whine, half-pleaded, "Do you love me?"

He froze, one hand buried in her curled hair, the other hovering over the large bow on her derriere. "Umm...Well..." He struggled to find the "appropriate" response.

Startled out of her dream-like state, she sat up slowly, eyes teary and wide as she gently forced him to meet her gaze. "Do you love me?" she repeated quietly, searching his eyes desperately.

"Yes," he told her hoarsely, spilling his heart onto the mattress at her knees. She gave a little cry of joy, throwing herself into his arms. The force knocked him onto his back and he was too startled by the sudden change in position to even respond as she latched her lips onto his. He soon caught on, however, and spent the next few minutes shifting between focusing on kissing her back with all of his being and frantically undoing all of the bows he could find on her.

When he had undone all of the ones on her dress, he pulled back reluctantly, lightly nipping her lower lip between his teeth before resting his forehead against hers. She giggled and rubbed her nose against his. "Airi," he whispered so as not to ruin the mood, "Darling, your bows."

"My...bows?" she asked, leaning away from him to judge by his face whether or not he was being serious with her. "What about them?"

"Can you...umm...untie the ones...under...there?" he finished weakly, gesturing at her dress.

"Why?"

"Because...I want you back the way you normally are. You know, when you hate my guts and trip after my pathetic excuse for a brother?"

"But...if I'm normally opposed to your affections, and you prefer me that way, why kiss me?"

"...I just wanted a peaceful memory of you, one of you loving _me_ instead of Aram to keep. I swear, Airi, that's all I wanted!"

"All right, then," she said after a moment of thoughtful silence.

"You'll do it?" She nodded in response, reaching down slowly to grasp her skirt hem in her fingers.

"Fair warning, though."

"For what," Jeile asked, confused and slightly nervous.

"I don't think it'll work," she muttered as a blush stole across her cheeks.

"Why not! Dammit, Maruru promised me it would!" he raged, leaping to his feet and heading for the door.

"Wait, Jeile! It's not that!" she cried, catching his coat hem and jerking him to a stop. "It works...or, rather, it worked," she hurried to explain. "It stopped working when we were one our way here, to my rooms," Airi confessed quietly, eyes glued to her shoes.

"How...what...why?!" Jeile spun to face her, gripping her shoulders in his hands. "How did it stop working, Airi!"

"One of the bows slipped loose and un-tied itself," Maruru told him, startling both mortals.

"How did you know?" they asked the tiny girl simultaneously.

"I made it happen." She shrugged and flew off once again, leaving the couple to face the fact that they had confessed to loving each other without the freeing effective of magic.

"So...did you mean it?" Airi asked, shifting slightly close to Jeile.

"Every word," he responded just as quietly, reaching out to entwine their fingers.

"Me, too."

"Wanna get married?" Jeile suddenly asked, looking excited.

"Maybe later," Airi told him. "But first, didn't I promise to undo some ribbons for you...?"

The End...


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